Bonsai

Early this week I was made aware of a new supposedly amazing restaurant in town assuming the name Bonsai. This new restaurant is comparable to the famous Abilene Fuji's. It was rumored that this Bonsai was even better than Fuji's. I was so taken aback, because speaking against Fuji's is as close to blasphemy as possible. I had to see for myself.

Jon and I went to Bonsai last night with great expectations. "What could possibly be better than Fuji's?" we asked ourselves. "This must be close to heavenly!"

First impression:
It does have some better curb appeal than Fuji's, but let's be honest...Fuji's is a square white building with a green sign. You can definitely tell that it is new, as there are strings of triangle flags hung around the entirety of the building. As I walked up to the hostess stand she asked me, "will you be dining in our sushi bar or our grill tonight?" WHAT! Sushi Bar! This IS heaven. I never thought Abilene was affluent enough to support a sushi bar! But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Dinner:
The menu was almost exactly the same as Fuji's. For a brief moment I wondered if this was really Fuji's number two and they just changed the name in order to create a seemingly great competitor. Then I tasted the rice. Fuji's 1, Bonsai 0. Jon described it perfectly, it tasted like something you would get at a buffet Chinese restaurant. Not a hibachi grill. The rest of the food, was different but good. The salad dressing had way to much ginger in it, and the soup was really spicey. The steak was tasty and tender, my favorite part of the meal.

Overall:
Bonsai is not Fuji's. Whoever thought this place was better was deranged. Maybe they were high on Rainbow and Philly rolls, and I can't blame them for their fixation on the sushi bar. Bonsai was a little higher priced than Fuji's, and their menu's contradicted each other, which was super confusing. If you can't get into Fuji's on a Friday night, then Bonsai is a good second option. But it doesn't hold a candle to the original Abilene hibachi wonder.